Taraji P. Henson to play hit woman in Proud Mary

Empire star Taraji P. Henson has lined up her next big-screen project following the impressive box office debut of Fox’s Hidden Figures. EW has confirmed the Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner will front Screen Gems’ upcoming drama Proud Mary in the role of a hit-woman-gone-good.

Henson is set to play the titular character, “whose life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy who awakens her maternal instinct in her that she never knew she had,” according to a source close to production.

Proud Mary‘s script was co-written by Days of Our Lives scribe John Stewart Newman and Christian Swegal, who previously worked as a cinematographer on Caroline and Jackie, which bowed at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. Paul Schiff (Rushmore, Mona Lisa Smile) and Tai Duncan (The Air I Breathe) are producing.

A director has yet to be attached. Production is slated to begin this April in Boston.

Henson has worked with Screen Gems before, fronting films like No Good Deed, Think Like a Man, and its sequel, Think Like a Man Too.